KATHMANDU, July 20: Tribhuvan Army Club's swimmer Kiran Karki set a new national record in men's 50m breaststroke as he bagged gold in the 21st National and Age-group Swimming Championship that kicked off at the Satdobato Swimming Complex in Lalitpur on Tuesday.
Kiran, who claimed gold in 17 years age group, clocked 32.72 seconds to surpass Shailesh Rana's timing of 32.82 seconds, recorded in 2009 in Kathmandu.
Although, the event was an age group category, the record has been mentioned as national record by Nepal Swimming Association.
Meanwhile, Kiran bagged gold in the open category of men's 50m breaststroke as well. However, he clocked 32.93 seconds. Shuvam Shrestha (33.69 seconds) and Rupesh Chaudhary (37.55 seconds) came second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, Army's Sirish Gurung bagged four gold medals.
Sirish won gold in 200m individual medley by clocking 2 minutes and 34.44 seconds. DAV's Anubhav Subba (2 minutes and 39.42 seconds) and SVI's Devesh Manandhar (2 minutes and 42.45 seconds) won silver and bronze medals respectively.
Sirish bagged another gold medal in the 100m butterfly with a timing of 1 minute and 9.87 seconds, while Anubhav (1 minute and 13.94 seconds) and Bhishma Baduwal of Army (1 minute and 18.20 seconds) finished second and third.
Sirish also came first in the 100m freestyle by clocking 59.88 seconds. Devesh (1 minute and 0.54 seconds) and Anubhav (1 minute and 2.84 seconds) came second and third respectively.
Sirish's fourth gold medal came from 200m backstroke as he clocked 2 minutes 40.81 seconds. Devesh (2 minutes and 46.03 seconds) and Anubhav (2 minutes and 47.44 seconds) won silver and bronze medals.
In women's open category, Sofia Shah bagged 200m freestyle gold by clocking 2 minutes and 23.19 seconds, while Shreetika Singh (2 minutes and 37.37 seconds) and Tisa Shakya (2 minutes and 43.91 seconds) claimed second and third spots respectively.
Sofia also claimed another gold medal in 100m freestyle with a timing of 1 minute and 4.22 seconds. Shreetika (1 minute and 9.81 seconds) and Savanah Ghale (1 minute and 11.06 seconds) came second and third.
Similarly, Sonira Bista (39.69 seconds) won 50m breaststroke, while Niharika Tuladhar (40.25 seconds) and Sofia (42.82 seconds) finished second and third.
Sonira (3 minutes and 27.53 seconds), Duana Lama (3 minutes and 37.22 seconds) and Adipsha Viaidya (3 minutes and 52.21 seconds) claimed top three positions in 200m breaststroke.
Nepali swimmer Alexander Shah sets new national record
